With its high user base and low development costs, Apple’s App Store has been hailed as a great jumping-off point for indie studios. Unfortunately, as the big guys muscle their way into the hyper-popular mobile market and advertising costs go through the roof, small game developers are worried that they’re going to wither and die in the shadow. It’s a legitimate concern, and one that might cause the booming indie scene to sicken if costs don’t come down.

iOS developers unloaded their troubles at VentureBeat’s recent GamesBeat 2012 panel. One of the panel’s participants was Gabe Leydon, the CEO of Machine Zone. Leydon made mention of how app cross-promotion services like Chartboost have upped their fees drastically in a very short period of time. It’s no coincidence that said costs are climbing as more and more triple-A studios make their way into the mobile space.

“The pressure on prices will shoot upward and not slow down until more ad inventory comes online,” said Leydon. “There’s billionaires in the market who want to win. They are willing to spend $7 a download. This is going to be a long, tough fight.”

“You can’t predict how the bigger companies will spend,” offered W3i co-founder Rob Weber, who was also on the panel. “But it’s about finding the right volume and the right level of profitability for a game and doing it on a large scale. It’s a huge, full-time job.”

Developing a core brand like Battle Bears can help small developers thrive in a crowded market.

Another panel participant, Ben Vu (founder of SkyVu Entertainment), believes that developing a core brand can help the little guys stand out amongst the giants, which is what SkyVu has been doing with its long-running Battle Bears series.

“We are working on the core product and the core brand and making it freakin’ awesome,’ Vu said.

It’s good to see that developers like Vu are determined to keep fighting for their brands in such a crowded market. It appears that struggle and innovation the key to survival on the App Store. There’s certainly nothing wrong with triple-A games, and nobody expects the big fellahs to stay out of the mobile market out of the goodness of their hearts (though that’d be nice). It’s just a little depressing to see that indies are having an increasingly harder time thriving on a platform that initially seemed perfectly-suited for them.

Thinks change, however, and the games industry is evolving at a blisteringly fast pace. So what happens next? We consulted our magic ball: all it said was ‘all signs point to ‘˜yes,” whatever that means. Seriously though, there will always be indies on the App Store who manage to sweep away our hearts with the simplest ideas, and that’s comforting–but there’s still a lot of frustration and fear to go around. Even though the App Store is currently THE go-to spot for mobile games, it’s not like Apple is the only player in the market. Maybe the Google Play Store, Amazon App Store, and Windows Store will be seeing an increase in developer traffic in the near future.

For the second year in a row, angry gamers have voted Electronic Arts as the worst company in America on the consumer advocate blog, The Consumerist. At Slide To Play, we are dedicated to protecting the interests of gamers from companies that would sell them shoddy products, excessive in-app purchases, and cumbersome digital rights management. But once again, we must urge The Consumerist and its voters to step back and take a look at the bigger picture.

It feels crass to talk about video games while we’re still standing in the shadow of the Sandy Hook massacre. Frankly, it is crass to jaw about games while families still mourn for their children. But humans are gifted/cursed with the ability to analyze tragedies and ask, ‘How can we prevent this from happening again?’ One town in Connecticut has seemingly decided that one solution involves the application of fire to video games. Sometimes you just need to stand up and say ‘Now hold on a minute,’ regardless of context. (more…)

Don’t you hate it when you’re walking down the street and all of a sudden you’re just dying to find out what level Herdier learns ‘Crunch’ at?* Your troubles are over. Thanks to the Pokemon Company, you can now download an official Unova PokeDex to your iOS device. For several years now, Nintendo fans and investors have been prodding the Big N to develop for iOS. Is this PokeDex app a sign that the company is caving to demands? (more…)

Game developer Peter Molyneux recently said something interesting, as Peter Molyneux is wont to do. At the Montreal International Game Summit earlier this week, he talked about the enormous success of 22Cans’ new app, Curiosity, but more intriguingly, he suggested that games have failed to become ‘another true entertainment form.’ (more…)

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Industrial Toys has released it’s follow-up to the great Midnight Star. In Renegade, a much more casual game, the focus is on short bursts of play and the never-ending constant upgrading of weapons and gear. This game brings the great controls for a mobile FPS that the previous version had, but focuses less on the story and more on the frantic gameplay.

Heroes of Loot 2 is an update to the original that brings even more to love of the original. This time around the player chooses two player types to take into the dungeon, switching between them in the game as needed.

Heroes of Loot 2 is 50% off right now for launch.

After their job, of keeping the dungeons in balance, was done, our heroes needed a new job. Roaming the lands they found a call for heroes, a castle in need, possible even a damsel in distress?

Pick two heroes to take into the adventure, controlling both heroes and using their special skills to navigate the dangerous castle hallways, rooms and floors. Switching between the two characters to solve quests, puzzles, and of course clear the dungeons of all evil.

Human Resources Corporation, from some of the same fine folks that brought us World of Goo is a puzzle games that makes some of the basics of programming into a fun little exercise.

The premise is that the player is a new recruit in a corporation that need to tell other in game characters how to move and act by giving a set of program commands to complete tasks. It’s a great introduction to the logic used in programming and a fun little game with great personality. Which is expected considering the team that created this.

Temple Run 2 has done it again. Expanded into a whole new world with the Blazing Sands expansion. Available now in the game.

Touch Arcade notes:

It’s called “Blazing Sands,” and as you can see from the above trailer, you’ll be running through canyons along side raging rapids and Egyptian-y looking statues while marauding vines are smacking you in the face… Which really isn’t much of a surprise as vines in video games seem to be jerks almost 100% of the time. Of course there’s new stuff to unlock too between new outfits and Blazing Sands artifacts. If you collect ’em all, you’ll even get a swanky new hat.

From Martin Magni, the developer of the great Odd Bot Out, Mekorama hit the App Store this week. This charming puzzle game has the player guide a robot through a series of very unique 3D puzzles. The puzzles have shades of Monument Valley without the Escher inspired vibe.

One of the features that really sets this game apart from others is the integrated level editor. This lets players create their own levels and share them via a simple QR code integrated image. Take a look at the new levels shared on Twitter with the #Mekorama hashtag. I’ve even created one to test the path finding skills of that little robot.

Mekorama is free in the App Store with a pay what you want price model.

There have been a lot of games that have aped the style of Monument Valley, but not that have really gotten the idea and complexity of the game. That is until Evo Explores. Evo Explores really understand the game and does a great job of adding puzzle types to the original that it unashamedly takes inspiration from. It’s so good that members of the Monument Valley team have remarked how impressed they are.

But beside that, the game can stand on its own as well. It’s a great suspension of belief type puzzler with new and interesting mechanics and is just plain fun. The story that goes along is a little weak, but then again that’s just a small part of the game. Well worth a download.

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